Tuesday 24 October 2006

Old Soldiers never Die !

This is a book ,discribing the history of 'The Royal Hospital Chelsea' it is a book I now hope Santa might bring me ,On the cover of the book we can see a picture of The Hospital,and in front a picture of a Chelsea Pensioner,I have been reading it all up on the 'net ' Since last Monday, when Karen and I went to our meeting ,at Portcullis House in London,you see whilst enjoying our cuppa's ,we were joined by this dear old gentleman who introduced himself as Bob ...and who's picture you see at the top of the entry,with me ,and as Karen said later ,we were the wrong way round ,he had a chest full of medals and you cant see them ! He did however tell us how he was awarded them ...one was for the campaign in Africa during WW2,it was presented to him by our late King,our present Queens Father ,he was also proud of one given to him by Her Majesty,because he had worked at Buckingham palace,in the post room ,these retired soldiers still perform duties,and he told us he often saw the Queen in the morning whilst delivering her post,Because of my work until I retired ,in sheltered housing for the elderly and before that care homes ,I was interested in his discription of where he lives in the Royal Hospital ,with other retired service men ,who now live there for various reasons ,some are widowers ,all have applied and been accepted,they each have their own birth /room with their personnal belongings,when they agree to stay there, they forego their pension ,for board and lodging,in exchange for their room and meals ,they enjoy many facilitys,with communal rooms, a bar ,and of course are with like minded people , their familys are free to visit them there ,and off course they go on holiday to visit family and friends too ,they are encouraged if they are fit,to join in a wide variation of activities ,ranging from state occasions,to simply talking to tourists who come to our capital,They are very well informed and like nothing better than a good old yarn ,and Karen and I agreed Bob really made our day

http://www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/     As you can see I have added the web site for you to see ,for yourselves ...I do hope you enjoy meeting Bob as much as we did
Jan xx

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting.
Have a good day.
Sug

Anonymous said...

I think that is a good exchange for aged soldiers. That is a very good picture. Helen

Anonymous said...

Fine old gentleman Jan. They always bring a tear to my eye at the Service of Remembrance.  My uncle was offered a place there but he did not want to go.  A couple of my ancestors were Chelsea Pensioners but did not live in.  I hope you get that book for Christmas xxxx

http://journals.aol.co.uk/jeanno43/JeannettesJottings/

Anonymous said...

Sounds as if you had an interesting day. Hope Santa is kind to you and brings you the book for Christmas.

Leigh :-)
http://journals.aol.co.uk/edwardssoapy/LeighsWorld/"

Anonymous said...

What a nice visit you had.  We do owe so much to those men who did so much in WW2.  My own father was in the Army then and just in later years has begun to tell some stories of that time. He is a member of the DAV ...Disabled American Veterans and they do a lot in the way of service for the community. Hope Santa is good to you too !  'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

hi mum. i looked for the book for you on ebay...because I wanted to be your santa, but they dont have it :(...so i hope maurice will be santa for you. do you want me to come twist his arm! lol love Joanne

Anonymous said...

As always Jan a great and interesting read

Anonymous said...

That's just awesome Jan.  I love talking to people like your BOB.  He sounds fascinating.  And the book looks good too.  Big hugs and GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

I love talking to people like him with such interesting history.  Such stories they have to tell!  I love the pic of you two.  Very nice.  I hope you get the book!
Pam

Anonymous said...

People like Bob are so interesting and are never short of a story to tell,it`s brilliant!
bella xx

Anonymous said...

I bet Bob has some great stories to tell. B. x

Anonymous said...

Jan lovely picture of you and Bob ~ I'll bet he has some tales to tell ~ thanks for the link to that site ~ I hope you get that book for Christmas ~ another interesting entry thanks for that ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

Sounds a nice little community Jan.  Hope Santa brings the book.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this entry. You (as a country) are very good to your Veterans. I applaud you for it. My Regards, Bill.

Anonymous said...

I am full of pride for old soldiers like Bob and would be honoured to sit down and have a chat. .that would be really interesting.I am going to ahve a look at the chelsea pensioners website. . anything like this interests me very much.

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's always wonderful to be able to sit down and have a talk with veterans... such brave people, and they're full of fascinating stories, good and bad. Thanks for the link!

Morgan
xxxx
http://journals.aol.com/Sneezy7125/RandomThoughts

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,  The Chelsea Hospital is a wonderful place for some of our ex-serviceman to spend the rest of there days.  Long may it continue. :o)

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

Great enrty Jan, really enjoyed it...thanks for sharing.

Astra!

Anonymous said...

how fascinating Jan!
hugs,natalie
ps I had forgotten that you did that very important job! bravo!
nat

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan - what a lovely entry today, and how nice is Bob...... would love to meet him and hear all the tales he has to tell.
Luv Jayne x

Anonymous said...

I hope Father Christmas brings that book for you! Bob looks a lovely old man, I bet he could keep us supplied with stories for quite a time! Glad you got to meet him. Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

have a good week:)

Deb

Anonymous said...

So glad Bob has such a nice place to live and he deserves it. Interesting entry as usual. Paula

Anonymous said...

They are wonderful old guys I agree! We met a lovely chap called George the last time we visited the Tower of London. They know so much. I will look for that book it sounds interesting! Love Conniex

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan, another interesting entry.  You are a regular part of my routine now.  Keep up the good blog.
Just wanted to let you know that, on your recommendation, I got Nest of Magpies from the library.  I moved to the North West 10 years ago after 30 years in East Anglia.  Oh how the author brings it all back - I can almost smell it.  And the Gawns really made me laugh out loud.  Many thanks. Barbara

Anonymous said...

This is really cool!  I had no idea that you have places like this here.  How wonderful that you treat your veterans with such dignity and honour.  I hope you get your book for Christmas.  Have you been a good girl?

Susie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/susanebunn/ItAllStartsAfter50/

Anonymous said...

What a dear man Bob is.  It's always nice to get to know men from his era.  They are full of stories and experiences that we can only read about.  What a special moment for you!
Hugs,  Kathy

Anonymous said...

Bob looks like a sweetheart and I would also enjoy hearing his yarns. I loved the title you gave this entry and as always it was very informative. You and Jeannette are always a pleasure to read. I learn so much.
Dianna

Anonymous said...

Oh, how interesting.  I would love to sit and chat with  someone like Bob.  I'm sure he has many tales to tell.  What a wonderful entry.   Be a good girl now, so that Santa will bring you that book.    Dawn

Anonymous said...

Hello there Jan,
I have followed your journal for weeks and it is brilliant,not commented in it until today.Congratulations on being  nominated which comes as no suprize.You realy deserve it.I hope you do the double as I first found your journal on the Aol screencard when you won last time.Good Luck.As for the title of this entry it brings a lump to my throat I can assure you.What a wonderful Guy you met there.The photo is brilliant of you.I think you take a marvelous pict.I will continue to follow your journal with much interest.Take care.Have a lovely day.
Astoriasand  http://journals.aol.co.uk/astoriasand/MYSIMPLERHYMES

Anonymous said...

Very good entry....I don't know if we have anything like the Royal Hospital here in the States but we should if we don't.  Went to the website and really enjoyed the presentation of its history.

Anonymous said...

Jan, Bob sound like a delightful older gentleman.  I have found the elderly to be full of wonderful stories of years gone by.  Thanks for the link. Wonderful thing the UK is doing for the elderly.  xx  Chris

Anonymous said...

You certainly packed a lot into that day in London, Jan.  I always get a lump in my throat when we see the Chelsea Pensioners on Remembrance Saturday on TV, marching so proudly.  Lovely photo of you too !  Bunny xx

Anonymous said...

Dear Jan, I found your entry really interesting, especially about Bob himself.  I love it when I meet people when I am out and about who have a nice chat about who they are and what they are doing.  I'll go and look at the Chelsea Pensioners site.  Hmmm wonder if they would take me one day!!  Terry x

Anonymous said...

I am visiting your journal again in preparation for the final voting. I see that you write very elegantly.  That is nice with descriptions of places you are seeing at the moment and pictures.  I like the way you put your journal together.  I always appreciate a well written journal.  On my family site we have argued about whether attention should be called to editing, but I don't think that hurts for the younger family members, as long as we aren't nags and unkind. We can all use improvement in our writing skills. So I see why people nominated you for Lady of the Blog.  Gerry

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan, that was a lovely pic of you and Bob...I did go and look at that link. It is very interesting, I didn't know any of that!! Linda xx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/lindachapmanuk/metamorphing